Kattey Ortiz
Equinox Staff
As another school year winds to a close, the graduating class of 2013 is preparing to make its final weeks as undergraduate college students count. There are memories to be made, whether it be during karaoke nights at Lab ‘N’ Lager, a dance party at McCues, or simply a lunch at the Zorn Dining Commons. But there is one last tradition that seniors are preparing for: The Senior Pub Crawl in downtown Keene on May 5. And that tradition has sparked a few hard feelings.
According to senior Michelle Picard, the Pub Crawl organizer, the following bars will be participating: Penuche’s, Lab ‘N’ Lager, The Railroad Tavern, KilKenny Pub, Pour House, McCue’s, Cobblestone and for the first time, 21.
Picard volunteered to organize the event, which is not affiliated with Keene State College. She began making all of these arrangements back in February by herself for her fellow class; as other seniors before her have done, according to Picard. She has met with numerous people, including a representative from each of the bars, the Liquor Commissioner, Keene Police, and Director of Campus Safety Amanda Warman.
“We’re all trying to work closely just to ensure that this is a successful and safe event,” Picard said.
She also organized an unprecedented event last fall: the Fall Crawl, which was a pub crawl that was open to anyone over 21, she said. But the Senior Pub Crawl is different.
“This one, I tried to put it out there that it is for seniors,” she said, “because we do have a large senior class, and the pub crawl can only have so many participants because there’s only so many bars. The maximum capacity is at Cobble[stone], and that’s 65. And there are eight bars, so that means we have eight teams of 65 people.”
But many seniors have expressed a frustration with this spring’s crawl. Some claim that seniors were not the only people allowed to sign up, resulting in 46 seniors placed on a waiting list. Senior Brett Casna is one of many unhappy seniors.
“I think my biggest frustration is that what was said was going to happen is not what happened,” he said. “There was no checking of lists … So juniors are getting signed up, and I assume if you’re not filling out your intent to graduate and you’re not graduating, you’re not a senior. I think it’s just frustrating because this is my last opportunity to do it [the pub crawl].”
While Casna was not waiting in line at McCue’s to sign up, his friend was in hopes of signing up for both himself and Casna (which was allowed with the required $10 deposit for the cost of the t-shirt.)
“My friend came and got money from me, and that was probably like, 2:30 p.m.,” he continued, “and probably two hours later, he called me and was like ‘They just cut it off.’ He was there for a little over two hours and then he got cut off. They just said there’s no more spots left.”
Senior Stephan Rolfe shared the same experience and disappointment. After a little over an hour waiting in line to sign up, he was also turned away.
“I was at a group project and I ended up running over from the library,” he began, “And I was there for like an hour, hour fifteen I think. And I was like ten feet away from the table and they were just like ‘Oh yeah, sorry.’”
He said that there were an approximate 15-20 people ahead of him, with about 30 people behind him.
“Right when they said it, everyone just snapped. They were all heated,” he said. He suggested that organizers should have given people a warning.
“At least cut us out early instead of making us wait until the last minute,” he proposed. “Just go through and make a count up, like, ‘Alright guys, we have this many spots left and there’s this many people.’”
Senior Ally Nardini waited in line for nearly an hour-and-a-half, only to be told inside McCue’s that the spots were full and was offered a spot on the waiting list.
“I’ll give [Picard] credit; she did feel really, really bad,” she said. “But it was just so unfair because I know people who were there who got signed up for it, and I heard that juniors got signed up for it.”
Nardini also noted that she did not see a list with the names of graduating seniors, only a list of teams.
“She might have had a list, but she wasn’t checking the list,” she stated.
Casna said juniors who are signed up should offer their spot to those on the waiting list.
“If I was a junior, I would step down gladly to let other people do it,” he said. “The Senior Pub Crawl has been tradition for a long time. It’s unfortunate that there’s limited spots but it should still be for seniors.”
In response to the uproar, Picard said she understands and feels terrible, but also said a list provided from the school was used. Picard said she based the sign-ups on the honor system, hoping junior students would respect the seniors.
“There was a list,” she began. “As for the whole juniors signing up, I don’t know anybody. I kind of hoped that there would be an honor policy where juniors wouldn’t take advantage of the system.”
She also questioned the validity of the rumors of possible juniors on the list.
“I don’t know how true that is,” she said. “It just took one person writing on Facebook, ‘There are juniors’ and now everyone’s coming up to me and asking, ‘So are you taking the juniors off?’ And I mean, do you know who the juniors are?”
While seniors are upset that they can’t officially participate in the Pub Crawl, Picard said that students are still allowed to go to the bars with their friends. They just are not able to be put on a team.
Even through the criticism and backlash, Picard said that she would have done it the same if given another chance and believes she dealt with the situation pretty well.
“I wouldn’t change anything. I think I did the best I could as one person. So many people have told me that you can’t make everyone happy. As I have people complaining online about it, I have double that coming up to me and praising me or saying I did a great job,” she said.
Picard stressed she hopes that students will be able to pace themselves to ensure a safe experience for everybody.
“Eight hours of drinking is a long time, so I’m trying to stress to everybody that you need to be on your best behavior … Be respectful. Drink, have a good time, celebrate, be happy, but do it in a way where you’re not obliterated.”